Read (Issue 1)

Author: Zhu Yong, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The more certain a conclusion is, the more easily it is challenged. The more bland and superficial the preaching, the more interesting the reading process becomes, as they foster a kind of game between the wise and the foolish, akin to a cat and mouse. Here, I must emphasize that the importance of reading surpasses the importance of the text. The text is an end, while reading is a beginning. Reading and publishing belong to two different disciplines. Publishing often only deals with the superficiality of ideology, whereas reading reveals the true core of contemporary thought—the parts that can be said and the parts that can remain unsaid. Yet it truly plays a role, much like all mysterious scientific laws. It never boasts, only those sensitive can perceive its existence. We view the history of thought as too grand because we forget the precious doubt and contemplation amidst the noisy reading. But the latter rarely speaks, they occupy no prominent position in the history of discourse, yet they reveal their value silently in the form of thought.